Don't Point at Graveyards If you do, locals believe that a spirit will latch onto you. Not only that, but they'll never let go, and you'll be stuck with this stray spirit for the rest of your life.
Whistling in a cemetery is a way of summoning evil spirits (or, alternatively, lonely spirits). Some believe that cemeteries hold lingering souls. Whistling might lure those souls to you, because whistling is a common way to call out to someone.
Why are cemeteries so peaceful? You may find a cemetery peaceful because it can help put life into perspective. People have set cemeteries aside as hallowed ground. Most people are on good behavior while visiting.
As long as you are respectful of the graves and headstones, there is no problem at all with walking through a graveyard whether you know any of the occupants or not.
To Protect the Corpse from Being Stolen. Snatching dead bodies was common in many parts of England and Scotland in the early 1800s. Therefore, graves were always dug six feet deep to prevent body snatchers from gaining access to the buried remains.
The body takes between ten to fifteen years to decay to a point where you may just find bones, teeth and hair remaining in the casket. There may also be some excess tissue and clothing fibers that withstood the ten years of decay.
People often leave tributes to remember their loved ones, and the cemetery staff has been instructed not to remove anything. Is it disrespectful to walk on graves? Yes, it is disrespectful. Always walk between the headstones and avoid standing on top of a gravesite.
It's a common driving superstition that whenever you pass a graveyard in your car, you should hold your breath. Why? Some people believe it's to avoid making the ghosts jealous (you know, because you're alive and can still breathe) while others do it to avoid breathing in any spirits.
You probably need permission from the owners or managers of the cemetery grounds. Most cemeteries are the private property of a house of worship or a mortuary, so without permission you would be trespassing.
Cemeteries tend to be peaceful, contemplative places, and might have tall trees, meandering paths, manicured lawns and ponds, and, in some cases, kangaroos, possums, ducks and frogs. And people who visit people they care for.
Riddle Me This: Why are graveyards so noisy? Because of all the coffin!
Usually this means that someone had been buried before that stone monument was made. Most of the older gravestones don't contain dates because dates were never inscribed on them before the deaths of most of the people who are buried there. The numbers on the gravestones of the cemetery show how long the people lived.
A bishop or his designee has the honor to impart a blessing on a new cemetery. He walks around the boundaries of the area while sprinkling holy water. He continues the sprinkling over the entire grounds.
It is believed that whoever plays with his/her foot at night, his/her father or mother will die. It cannot be whistled at nights, for the person who whistles it said that he/she is calling the Devil.
If simplicity is a factor, cremation is definitely better. Traditional burials are more expensive, less environmentally-friendly, and under a tighter deadline. They're also a lot more complicated.
White is often the traditional color chosen for funeral flowers. White roses signify purity, innocence, honor and peace. If the person who has passed on was an elderly and well-respected person in your community, this may be an appropriate choice of flowers to take along to the ceremony.
No running, yelling, or rolling around on the ground. This is not a place for childhood games. Don't let them play on any of the monuments. While it is good to get children used to paying respects at a cemetery, they often don't fully understand the meaning of everything in the cemetery.
Don't sit or lean on the headstones, grave markers, or other memorials. It's not very respectful. If you're planning on being there a long time, bring a little travel chair.
The ground where the body is buried will absorb the smells for those interred underground, and a properly designed mausoleum will have vents to emit gases where they will not be noticed, above the mausoleum. Cemeteries will also have the usual smells of mown lawns and flowers.
Related Stories. He describes cemeteries as “semi-public spaces,” akin to shopping malls, where folks go “mall walking.” In the same way, “it's perfectly fine for runners to use privately owned cemeteries for walking or running, so long as they do so in a respectful fashion,” says Eggener.
While there have been many stories written about people digging their way out of the grave, there do not seem to be any confirmed cases of anyone surviving premature burial. Even with the best training in the world, that's a lot of earth to move.
Why do Graves Sink? Grave subsidence refers to the appearance of graves 'sinking'. This is an entirely natural process caused by loosened soil settling into place. Grave subsidence is a process that Council manages and rectifies, and it should not be cause for concern.
When soil is replaced into a grave, it will inevitably contain more air pockets than the compacted soil before excavation. Over time, a backfilled grave will 'sink' as the air pockets escape and the soil settles; this is absolutely natural and practically unavoidable, especially in wet weather.
Do they remove organs when you are embalmed? One of the most common questions people have about embalming is whether or not organs are removed. The answer is no; all of the organs remain in the body during the embalming process.